Truffles Interviews Boo and Poobah, Canine Stars of Laura Childs' Gossamer Ghost (w/Review & Giveaway)

Truffles interviews Boo and Poobah, the canine stars of

Laura Childs' new Scrapbook Mystery, Gossamer Ghost.

Truffles: Welcome, Boo and Poobah! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions. Can you tell us a little about yourselves and how you came to live with Carmela?

Poobah: It's great to be here, Truffles. As dogs, we don't get a chance to chat with a lot of kitties (or do fancy schmancy interviews). But you seem super friendly and nice, so here goes . . .

Boo: I'm a girly-girl Shar-Pei and Carmela became my mom when I was just a little ball of wrinkles. I've lived with her (and been part of her crazy adventures) ever since.

Poobah: I was just a mutt on the street until Carmela's ex-husband found me and brought me to her French Quarter apartment. Best thing that ever happened to me - good grub, a soft bed, and someone to hug and love me.

Boo: Tell 'em what you look like.

Poobah: I'm what you'd call a Heinz 57 dog with scruffy ears. But the girls seem to love me!

Boo:

Poobah:

Truffles: Do your names have any special meaning?

Boo: I was born on Halloween, a major holiday here in New Orleans.

Poobah: And I'm a guy with a big personality who lolls away the time (up to 22 hours per day) on a plush sofa - just like a grand poobah.

Truffles: What is a typical day like for you?

Poobah: Because we live in the French quarter, we get to do walk down Royal Street (where the antique shops are) and Bourbon Street (where the wild and crazy clubs are). Sometimes we trot over to Riverwalk and bark at the big boats on the Mississippi and then walk down to Cafe du Monde and beg for beignets. (Most of the people there are a real soft touch).

Boo: But I have to be careful with sugar treats, I'm watching my figure.

Truffles: Is it fun living in the Big Easy?

Poobah: The Big Easy is totally cool. Everything here is a major party - Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, even Halloween. I mean, you should see the enormous floats!

Boo: But some of them are scary - remember the sea monster?

Poobah: Oh yeah, I had to put my paws over my eyes for that one.

Truffles: I know your latest adventure is set during Halloween. Does Carmela make you dress up in costume? I hate it when my Mommy does that!

Poobah: Rrrrf, no costumes. I mean, look at me, I'm a little goofy to start with!

Boo: I wore a grass hula skirt once at the 5K people and dog romp and run.

Poobah: You would.

Truffles: How do you feel about kitties?

Poobah: I'm cool with kitties. Our next door neighbor Ava, who owns Juju Voodoo, has a beautiful black kitty named Isis.

Boo: Sometimes the three of us chase each other around the fountain in the courtyard. We all get along really well.

Truffles: What kind of adventures do you get into in Gossamer Ghost?

Boo: When mom (Carmela) finds the owner of Oddities Antiques murdered and a Napoleon death mask stolen, she and Ava start scrambling for answers.

Poobah: We try to help, of course, 'cause we're really smart. But a Halloween investigation in New Orleans' French Quarter also means shuffling zombies, a phony French countess, and a tricked out ghost train.

Boo: I'm getting scared again.

Poobah: I'm right here sweetie, take my paw.

Truffles: Any final thoughts for your adoring public?

Boo: I think everyone who's reading this interview should also read Gossamer Ghost. I know they'll love it.

Poobah: Ditto that. Where else do you find mystery and mayhem, a great Halloween story, and verrry attractive dogs!

Laura Childs is the author of Gossamer Ghost, the newest Scrapbooking Mystery. She is also the creator of Boo and Poobah and writes the New York Times bestselling Tea Shop Mysteries and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. Find out more at www.laurachilds.com

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Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Friday, October 17th for your chance to win a hardcover copy of Gossamer Ghost. (US entries only, please.)

About the book: Carmela Bertrand knows that Halloween in New Orleans means a week of rabble-rousing, costumed craziness—and she can’t wait to get the party started. But when a local antiques dealer turns up dead, Carmela suddenly finds herself in a real-life danse macabre…

An evening’s work deciding on the class schedule for her scrapbooking shop has put Carmela in the mood to kick up her heels. But after some strange noises draw her into Oddities, the neighboring antiques shop, Carmela’s night is abruptly put on hold when a bloody body falls out of a curio cabinet—and into her arms.

While shop owner Marcus Joubert was known for being an eccentric with a penchant for eclectic merchandise, Carmela never thought he was the kind of man who could inspire the passion required to kill. But when Marcus’s assistant—and fiancée—Mavis reveals that a priceless death mask was also stolen, it becomes clear that murder wasn’t the culprit’s sole intention.

Carmela can’t resist the urge to investigate the growing mystery, but as the list of suspects increases, she realizes it’ll take every trick in the book to unmask the killer thief before there’s another night of murderous mischief…

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

Laura Childs' Scrapbooking mystery series has long been a favorite of mine because it is set in New Orleans, one of my favorite locales for a cozy. The vivid descriptions of the Big Easy in these books instantly makes me feel like I'm on Bourbon Street, eating a Muffuletta or beignet and sipping on a cafe au lait. The fact that Gossamer Ghost also takes place during Halloween, the most important day of the year in New Orleans, is just icing on the cake. From (crime scene) antique shop Oddities, an eclectic and macbre mix of merchandise, to the Halloween activities that Carmela and Ava participate in such as a Zombie Crawl to a Witches' Run to a Cemetery Crawl, this is a book sure to put you in the mood for all of the fun that Halloween brings. With a heart-pounding climax on a Ghost Train, this is one of the best books yet in this long-running series.

Sunday Smorgasbord #4

Since Sunday features a multitude of blog hops, instead of doing a single post for each one, Truffles and I have decided to merge them all into a Sunday Smorgasbord. Each week we will start with whichever hop Truffles is participating in (Sunday Selfies, Easy Sunday, B&W Sunday) followed by my customary weekly blog recap and what showed up in our mailbox this week.

Hey everybody, Truffles at the keyboard! I've decided to start using the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop (hosted by The Cat on My Head) as a way to showcase some of the kitties waiting for their forever homes at my Alma Mater, Franklin County Humane Society, and then sharing it with the Tuesday's Tails Blog Hop as well. I'm starting with a handsome mancat named Dexter, and I asked him to tell you a little about himself:

"Hi Truffles! Thank you so much for featuring me today on your blog. My name is Dexter. (No, I'm nothing like the Dexter you may have watched on TV.) I'm a really sweet boy who arrived at the shelter as a stray, and sadly I seem to be a victim of that silly black cat syndrome. I've been here at FCHS for nearly a year now, the second longest of any other kitty here. I'm used to being outside so I *could* be an indoor/outdoor cat, but of course I would be much safer exclusively as a house cat. I am SO ready to move into a home of my own. Since I've been here at the shelter I've lost some weight because I'm pretty unhappy. Are you looking for a handsome house panther to share your life with? More information on how to adopt me can be found here. Just sayin'..."

We have some exciting news to share this week too. We're going to be co-hosting a Halloween Day Blog Hop with Barking from the Bayou and Oz the Terrier! If you have a costume contest or party happening on Halloween, you’ll definitely want to join us. We can gather all of the spooky blogs in Blogville for our trick~or~treaters to visit. Be sure to mark your calendars for October 31st and the Halloween Spooktacular! Get your paws on our Halloween badge to post on your sidebar. I hope all of our feline friends will join us to represent the kitty contingent!

Last week on Mochas, Mysteries and Meows:

* Stirring the Plot by Daryl Wood Gerber: Guest Author, Review & Giveawway

* Animal Welfare Week: Doghouse (A Gin & Tonic Mystery) by L.A. Kornetsky: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

* #GetHealthyHappy, Stay Healthy Happy

* Literally Murder by Ali Brandon: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

* A Midwinter's Tail by Sofie Kelly: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

* Feline Diabetes: Tara's Story

* Caturday Art: Teddy Bear Cuddles

November Berkley Prime Crime/Obsidian Releases:

       

Bought:

     

NetGalley (Prepping my Christmas reading list!!!):

     

Caturday Art: Teddy Bear Cuddles

Hey everybody, it's Truffles! Did you know that today is Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day? According to Holiday Insights, if this day falls on a Saturday, plan to spend the day with your Teddy Bear. And, cuddle up to him (or her) tonight. That's exactly what I plan to do since I don't have to go to work regardless of what day it is! (Don't be jealous!)

Mommy created this for me using Pixiz, and then she added a quote that reflects how much we love cuddling with each other.

Check out more artsy kitties here.

Feline Diabetes: Tara's Story

This post is part of the Caring For Critters Round Robin which was created by Jodi at Heart Like A Dog. Each day a different blogger has been sharing their experiences with a particular injury, condition, disease or illness, then "passing the baton" on to the next blogger. Yesterday Destiny's Dog Blog wrote about Canine Urinary Tract Infections and Incontinence, and tomorrow Let's Go Dog will be writing about Canine Epilepsy.  I also encourage you to visit the Community Page where every blog post is archived.

There was never a doubt in my mind what the topic of my post was going to be: my Angel Tara's battle with feline diabetes. A devastating diagnosis in the beginning, it ended up being a life-changing experience for me that taught me so much about myself and brought Tara and I closer together than ever.

There are days in everyone's life that you remember as though it were yesterday; days when it seemed like from that moment everything changed. For me, one of those days was July 9, 2011.

My beloved Tara was at the emergency vet for the second time in 10 days with a urinary tract infection. For the first incident she had been put on a course of antibiotics, but the symptoms came back even worse as soon as she went off the meds. It was a Saturday afternoon and I remember that the vet's office was so, so busy that day. A litter of puppies came in that had overheated, a dog came in that had been hit by a car. I felt so helpless waiting for what seemed like hours while my poor baby was peeing blood all over the room they had freed up for us. She was so sick I had demanded a place I could take her to try to clean her up a little and make her more comfortable.

The vet on duty decided to do some blood work to try to figure out why the antibiotics hadn't cleared up the infection. My nerves were shattered while I waited for the results, and then they came...Tara was diabetic. Her blood sugar was close to 500. The vet said it was possible the high blood sugar level was due to the UTI, but she had never seem numbers that high due to an infection alone.

"Do you think you can start giving her insulin shots?"

I thought that was an odd question. I mean, what choice did I have? That's what Tara needed, that's what she would get. I looked at my father...he could do it! He used to give shots to cows on the farm all the time! (This was my frazzled mind at work at that moment.)

He just looked at me and said, "You're going to have to learn how to do it."

Tara had to spend the rest of the weekend at the emergency clinic on fluids, antibiotics, and to start an insulin regimen. I had those hours alone to let the whole situation sink in. When I picked her up Sunday night I was shown how to test her blood sugar, give insulin shots, and we discussed diet changes. She was the best little patient ever and received her testing and shots like a trooper.

You know what I discovered? It wasn't the end of the world. Managing Tara's diabetes wasn't "easy", but it was certainly do-able. My research-oriented mind immediately kicked into gear and I started reading everything I could get my hands on about feline diabetes. (Ironically, my father received the same diagnosis a year later, and I was very well-versed in helping him learn to manage the disease.) I found the Feline Diabetes Message Board and the ebook Sugarbabies: A Holistic Guide to Caring for Your Diabetic Pet to be invaluable sources of information. I watched YouTube videos on how to test her blood sugar at home and perform glucose curves. I followed the famous Janet & Binky's Food Charts religiously. For the recurrent urinary tract infections I put her on a daily regimen of D-Mannose powder.

Some cats are lucky and through diet change alone are able to go off insulin; Tara was never so fortunate. We never got her blood sugar to an ideal level, but an acceptable one. She went to the Rainbow Bridge just 2 days short of her 2 year anniversary of the diabetes diagnosis from congestive heart failure.

One of the most important things I learned through this whole experience (besides the fact that I learned I could do things I never thought possible!) was the importance of noticing the signs of diabetes. Deep down the diagnosis didn't surprise me; I had noticed Tara was drinking and peeing more, I was just trying to live in denial and I still feel guilty about that. Her horribly painful UTI's was her little body screaming at me to WAKE UP!

Life with Beagle created a wonderful infographic detailing the rise of diabetes in our pets, and the warning signs to be on the look out for. Please share and monitor your pets. Diabetes is NOT a death sentence, it is completely manageable.

I am not a vet and this is only my personal experience in dealing with feline diabetes. It is a disease which requires close contact with your veterinarian, who you should always consult before choosing any course of treatment.

A Midwinter's Tail by Sofie Kelly: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

The Cat is in the Details

By Sofie Kelly

Because the Magical Cats Mysteries have several cats as characters, I have a lot of facts about cats in my files. But I’d probably know a lot of these things anyway. I like cats and I like interesting bits of information. So how many of these cat facts did you know?

A group of cats is called a clowder. (Probably evolved from the word clutter.)

The Encyclopedia of Cats says there are more cats than dogs in North America. (Since there are also more women than men in North America could the two be connected?) The goddess, Bast has the body of a woman and the head of a cat. Cats have about a dozen whiskers on each side, which function as touch receptors.

According to How Stuff Works, cats don’t have true collar bones like we do, which is why they can squeeze through very narrow openings. A cat’s nose pad is ridged with a unique pattern, just like the fingerprint of a human.

Cats purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine. Most cats are lactose intolerant. A female cat is called a molly. Cats have no taste buds for sweetness. (Which explains, along with the lactose intolerance, why cats don’t eat a pint of Mocha Fudge ice cream when they’re having a bad day.)

A house cat can run faster than the worlds fastest man, Usain Bolt—about 30 mph versus about 27 mph at Bolt’s fastest. A 3 oz can of fancy feast has on average les than 90 calories.

According to the book What Cats Are Made Of, cats make close to 100 different sounds. Dogs make about ten. (I’m not saying that means cats are ten times smarter. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.)

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Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Monday, October 13th for your chance to win a copy of A Midwinter's Tail. (US entries only, please.)

Blurb: Kathleen Paulson is snowed under running her library and caring for her extraordinary felines, Owen and Hercules. But when a fund-raiser turns deadly, she’ll have to add sleuthing to her already full schedule....

Winter in Mayville Heights is busy and not just because of the holidays. Kathleen is hard at work organizing a benefit to raise money for the library’s popular Reading Buddies program. She has her hands full hosting the event. And when a guest at the gala drops dead, her magical cats, Owen and Hercules, will have their paws full helping her solve a murder.

The victim is the ex of town rascal Burtis Chapman, but she hasn’t lived in the area in years. And though everybody is denying knowledge of why she was back in town, as Kathleen and her detective boyfriend, Marcus, begin nosing around, they discover more people are connected to the deceased than claimed to be. Now Marcus, Kathleen, and her uncanny cats have to unravel this midwinter tale before the case gets cold.

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

The Magical Cats Mystery series is quite simply, pure magic. Owen and Hercules are back for their 4th adventure in A Midwinter's Tail and more adorable and clever than ever.

It's the holiday season in Mayville Heights and Kathleen is keeping busy planning a fundraiser for the library's Reading Buddies program for kids. The rumor mill is in overdrive over Dayna, the ex-wife of Burtis Chapman, who left town 20 years ago and never came back. Then in the middle of the fundraiser she drops dead after eating chocolate truffles that were coated in pistachio oil. Chocolatier Olivia Ramsey swears there were no nuts in her kitchen because she has a nut allergy of her own. Poor Kathleen has no choice but to refund everybody's money and risk losing the program that means so much to her and the town.

In previous books Owen seemed to steal the show with his Fred the Funky Chicken toys, but in this book Hercules has received a little purple catnip mouse that he just adores and Owen is jealous. The hijinks between these two had me laughing out loud. Plus Hercules aversion to getting his paws wet takes an even more humorous turn when there's snow on the ground!

I love how this series has ongoing storylines from each book to the next, including the various romances and especially the care of a local feral cat colony. Rich characters, a cozy setting, and two extra special felines make this one of the best cat mystery series on the shelves today.

Literally Murder by Ali Brandon: Guest Author, Review & Giveaway

Another Cat on the Cover

By Ali Brandon

Since I first began writing cozy mysteries a few years back, I’ve been closely listening to readers of that genre as they discuss their likes…and, occasionally, their dislikes. But get even more specific and start talking about animal mysteries, and you’ve got a whole new set of “pet” peeves to air. And the loudest complaint has to do with cats on book covers.

Confused? Let me explain.

Readers are well aware of the visual shorthand employed by book cover artists as far as genre fiction. The cover has a bare-chested hunk on it, and chances are it’s a romance. Lots of black, maybe a splash of blood or a weapon, and you’ve got a thriller. And when it comes to cozy mysteries, the universal symbol—even more identifiable than the silhouetted female on the ladies room door—seems to be a cat.

Most readers logically assume that a feline on the cover means a cat between the covers, too. Unfortunately, such isn’t always the case…and that misunderstanding can lead to lots of hissing and spitting on the part of cat mystery fans!

For, unless you’ve been hanging out in the Self-Help aisle at your bookstore all these years, you know that cat mystery series abound. They pretty well commenced decades ago with the “Cat Who…” books, and they continue to this day with no sign of abating. Cat mystery readers are never happier than when they’ve stumbled across a brand new series featuring yet another fuzzy, purring protagonist.

But let them buy a book with a cat on the cover, only to discover the storyline is feline-free, and the claws come out! They feel cheated, sold a bill of goods! And, sadly, the hapless author (who likely had little influence on the cover) will ever after suffer the brunt of the cat readers’ wrath, no matter that he/she wasn’t responsible for this kitty bait-and-switch.

Almost as egregious is when the cute tabby on the cover does shows up in the story, but only in a couple of scenes. Your cat mystery readers will tell you that it’s obvious the cat was basically shoehorned into the book just to help sell a few more copies. Woe unto the author who made that token cat mistake. He or she will be talked about in unpleasant terms on every cat lovers discussion sites for years to come.

Yes, cat readers take their feline literature seriously. So what, then, transforms a cozy mystery into an actual cat mystery? Very simply, it requires that a feline take an active role in solving the various crimes that are happening in that book.

These cat sleuths, in turn, fall into one of two different categories: a) Talking Critter or b) Realistic Animal. (The designation is mine…ask your local bookseller where to find the Talking Critter section, and she’ll point you right back to “Self-Help”.) Talking Critter books are lots of fun, but I chose to go the alternate path when I created Hamlet, the titular mascot in my Black Cat Bookshop Mystery series. So let’s talk a moment about Category B – Realistic Animal.

Hamlet has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessing murder. Unfortunately for Brooklyn bookstore owner and official feline caretaker Darla Pettistone, Hamlet—“Category B-er” that he is—can’t tell the authorities what he knows about the killing. But the wily feline has a workaround.

Hamlet has become the king of book-snagging, a little trick that entails periodically pulling appropriately-titled books off the bookstore’s shelves to serve as clues for Darla. Then, it’s up to her to interpret those cryptic words into something that makes sense as far as solving the crime.

But “realistic” also means keeping it real. It occurred to me early on in my series that you can only have so much murder and mayhem taking place in one bookstore. So I established Hamlet as an escape artist. This allowed me to have Hamlet find a dead body somewhere else besides on Darla’s doorstep, which was the case in the first Hamlet book.

By the third outing, Darla had trained Hamlet to walk with a harness and leash. That way, in book four, LITERALLY MURDER, Hamlet is able to go on vacation with Darla. Of course, he pads his way over yet another pesky dead body…but at least said corpse is found outside the Brooklyn zip code, for a change.

I’m currently hard at work on book five in the series, which takes place back at the bookstore. And, once more, Darla and the police are going to need every bit of help they can get in solving this next murder. But, don’t worry, Hamlet will save the day yet again. After all, it’s his furry picture on the book cover.

Ali Brandon is the New York Times bestselling author of the Black Cat Bookshop Mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime. Writing under her real name, Diane A.S. Stuckart, she penned the popular Leonardo da Vinci historical mystery series, which has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, as well as a Florida Book Award. Additionally, she is the author of five critically-reviewed historical romances which will soon be re-released as ebooks. A native Texan with a degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, Diane a/k/a Ali now lives in South Florida. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Cat Writers Association. Visit her at www.dianestuckart.com, and be sure to “like” Hamlet on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/blackcatbookshopmysteries .

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Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Monday, October 13th for your chance to win a copy of Literally Murder. (US entries only, please.)

About the Book: From her Brooklyn bookstore, Darla Pettistone not only sells mysteries, but solves them, aided by her big-boned black cat, Hamlet—who has suddenly pounced into the spotlight after unleashing his fists of furry…

After a video of Darla and Hamlet performing at a martial arts tournament goes viral, the Florida chapter of the Feline Society of America invites the “Karate Kitty” to be the guest of honor at their championship cat show in Fort Lauderdale.

Upon arrival, Darla discovers that not everyone in the Sunshine State has a sunny disposition. Animal rights activists are on the march, and a cat show contestant stages his own angry protest when his special breed Minx—half Sphynx, half Manx—doesn’t win. Then Hamlet disappears—only to be found next a dead man's body. Now it’s up to Darla and Hamlet to take best in show and collar the killer…

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

I'm generally a little leery whenever a favorite cozy series goes "on the road" to a different location. After all, the towns in cozy mysteries are as important a character as the 2-legged and 4-legged variety in many cases. My worry was completely unwarranted as this is another wonderful installment in the Black Cat Bookshop Mystery series.

In this 4th book in the series Darla and Hamlet leave Brooklyn for Fort Lauderdals to attend the Feline Society of America National Championship show. Hamlet is the guest of honor thanks to his "Karate Kitty" video going viral on the Internet. What should be a fun getaway goes terribly wrong when odd things begin to happen at the show, and then Hamlet is catnapped and reappears by the dead body of a breeder of rare cats.

Darla's BFF Jake tags along on the trip, and her mother Nattie is the star of the show from the minute she drives up in her Mini Cooper to pick the ladies up at the airport. She has a mystery of her own to solve - money has gone missing from her condo association, and her friend Billy, the head judge of the cat show, is being accused. Nattie is an absolute hoot who had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion!

Jake is forced to make a heartwrenching decision at the end of the book (that I never would have been able to make) about something she had her heart set on, and back in Brooklyn Pettistone's Fine Books is being outfitted with a coffee bar so that will be an interesting addition to the series.

If you're anything like me and your life revolves around cats and books, you will never go wrong in picking up a Black Cat Bookshop Mystery!

#GetHealthyHappy, Stay Healthy Happy

As part of the Hill’s® Science Diet® "Healthier Pets. Happier Lives." campaign, over the past several weeks I've shared tips with you on how to keep your pets happy and healthy. Our pets depend on us to make healthy decisions for them, and by following three simple steps - annual vet visits, proper nutrition at mealtime, and pampering our fur babies with little extras - pet parents can ensure their pets live healthier, happier lives. And the healthier and happier your pets are, the longer lives they'll lead, meaning we get to spend more time together, and it's a scientifically proven fact that pets do wonders for our health in return.

In case you missed any of our posts, here is a recap of 3 ways to not only get happier and healthier, but to stay that way too!

1) Mealtime. Proper nutrition is essential to a healthy life, whether you have 2 legs or 4. Since our pets can't go shopping, they depend on us to choose what goes into their bowls, and don't they deserve the very best? There are so many choices on the shelves it can be confusing, though. Talking to your vet about your pet's unique nutritional needs is the best way to start out on the right path. To help pet parents provide their pets' high quality nutrition, Hill's Pet Nutrition is offering a $10 off promotion on select Hill's Science Diet products. Check out http://blogp.ws/CatsGetHealthyHappy to download your rebate today! You can read our post on proper cat nutrition here.

2) Little Extras. One of my favorite quotes is 'Enjoy the little things in life because one day you`ll look back and realize they were the big things.' Every morning after breakfast is Truffles' favorite time to play. It's our special time together that I look forward to and it remains with me as I go about my day. Playtime gives pets physical and mental stimulation vital to health and happiness, and it's pretty darn therapeutic for me too! As a total treat junkie, treats are another way that I pamper her. Hill's has several treats that feature balanced nutrition that pet parents can feel confident in giving their dog or cat. Our post on the little extras that make Truffles purr can be found here.

3) Annual Vet Visits. Did you know that not visiting the vet for a year would be like you avoiding your doctor for 5 years??? Checkups allow your vet to get to know your pets, making it easier to detect any changes in their health and behavior. These visits can help spot conditions before they become serious. Cats are notorious for masking signs of illness, so a vet's trained eye is needed. Our post on the importance of annual vet visits can be found here.

Pets add immeasurable joy to our lives, and the right care can ensure that joy lasts as long as possible.

This post is sponsored by Hill’s. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s® Science Diet® Healthier Pets. Happier Lives.™, but Mochas, Mysteries and Meows only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article.